Andrea Horwath MPP, Hamilton-Centre

Andrea Horwath Gave the Following Statement in Response to the Restoration of Program Funding to Toronto Public Library

Published on May 3, 2017

“I’m pleased to hear that after two days of strong advocacy and immense pressure by the City of Toronto and Toronto residents, the Liberals have decided to reverse their planned funding cut to Toronto Public Library.

As I’ve made clear in the legislature over the last two days, I am strongly in support of reversing this Wynne Liberal funding cut. Libraries are community hubs that deliver important programs and services for people – like children’s reading programs, English classes for new Canadians, and the collection, digitization and preservation of historic materials.

Sadly, reversing this funding cut doesn’t fix the damage the Wynne Liberals have done in Toronto. This cut to Toronto Public Library was only the latest evidence of Wynne’s abandonment of GTHA families and their priorities.

While the waiting list for affordable housing grows, social housing units are being boarded up and sold off because the Wynne Liberals won’t bring any funding to the table to repair those homes. And while transit systems throughout Ontario are starving for investment, Wynne continues to refuse to be an equal funding partner.

I am pleased to see one cut being walked back, but I call on Premier Kathleen Wynne to realize that the City of Toronto – and municipalities throughout Ontario – need the downloading to stop and the damage repaired.”